That afforded Verizon lessons in dealing with network slowdowns and other difficulties seen in past cell phone clambers.

“We were prepared for this and we’ve been preparing the IT systems. We’ve been preparing the network. We’ve been preparing the staff. So, we don’t expect any problems,” said Sandberg to WCBS 880 reporter Paul Murnane.

Derrick Marshall was out in the cold for this hot phone and said, “It’s your media device. It’s games. It’s everything really.”

One customer said she hardly uses it for calls and when asked what the first thing she’d do with it is, she answered: probably some banking.